Another chance - Ranna and Kappei

[Nan-Yo]

"You mean for your own room?" Kappei inquired, unsure if this was the case or not. He couldn't say that he knew what the students council chambers looked like, but he didn't really have too. He just had to make an order for them to use the same wall and roof furnish that were there. Of course, if the student council chambers happened to be pink and decorated with bunnies, it wasn't his fault.

"I don't know what they look like. But if that is what you want, then that's what you'll get." He had worried a bit that Ranna would have objected to helping him decide how their apartment would look, but that had turned out to be unfounded. He was glad this was the case, they really be staying here a lot. Breakfast and dinner would be made in the kitchen. The bathroom would of course be used every day and their bedrooms at least every night. Maybe the common room wouldn't be used as often, but it should still be a place that they could relax in and enjoy.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Ranna could not tell him what they looked like, but maybe trying to figure that out would keep him busy for a while.  It would be nice if it delayed the marriage nonsense, but she was not that optimistic about it.  Though she was not sure how he would get a good look at it.  Maybe he could get a second hand description from someone else who had been there, but as far as she knew the only non-members to get any sort of look up there were those who ended up in one of their beds on occasion.

”Go take your time, have fun, trying to figure it out.”  Hopefully it was not that easy, that he did not already know someone he knew he could ask.  She hoped, for a variety of reasons, that Reiko did not already know that answer.  She did not even know if she would actually like, but if he managed to figure it out, maybe she would.

[Nan-Yo]

Kappei didn't bother to point out that the people that would decorate their place were the same people that had decorated the school council chambers. He didn't have to know what it looked like to order it, all he had to do was to ask them about it or simply tell them to make Ranna's room look similar. A part of Kappei really did hope that the chambers were pink, but he doubted that was the case.

"Lets go with that then... and a gold and orange one for this dining room as well to make it not clash with the kitchen and hallway." Kappei said as he picked up the books again and got up on his feet. Waiting for Ranna to get up as well he nodded to her. "If there is nothing else you think we should do in the apartment before we leave, I think we are finished here.

 

Edited July 2, 2023 by Nan-Yo

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Ranna was not thrilled to sit around here, but found the next step much less appealing.  The first step to make all this more official, she had been trying to talk her way out of this the whole time since she heard about it.  She just sat there for a moment.  She would do what she could to delay it ever so slightly, she would have preferred to run off and hide, though that was not really an option.  Eventually she stood up, still saying nothing, making no effort to move to the door.  Even delaying this for a few more minutes was worth it.

[Nan-Yo]

Kappei opened the front door and walked out into the hallway outside of their apartment, waiting for Ranna to catch up to him. The door didn't have an autolock on it, so Ranna would have to lock it after herself when she left since she had the only key. He didn't want to ask her to hurry up, so he just leaned against a wall outside while he waited for her.

Every floor was special in it's own way, but having checked out all the floors beforehand, Kappei thought that this one had the most quirks. As an example, while all the floors had high ceilings, it was extra high on the last floor. Instead of the 2.8 meter the other floors had, this one was a whooping 3.6meter. Being tall himself, Kappei liked this aspect since he sometimes felt a bit out of place when he was in a place built for a smaller person. But Ranna probably had the opposite problem, at least as a girl since she was so small.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Ranna eventually, slowly, made her way out and took her time locking the door.  At the moment she had other things on her mind, she had looked some at the various decorations, finding them interesting in a way, but thoughts about the height of the halls would come another time.  Though her eyes were a little drawn to it, content to take another excuse to delay things even a few more seconds.

[Nan-Yo]

Just like all the other floors, the seventeenth floor had it's own lounge area located close to the elevators, and it was quite a sight. But since they were in a hurry, Kappei had no real desire to show it to Ranna so he led her back to the elevator the same way that they came. Entering the elevator he waited for her catch up to him and then gestured for her to insert her key into the keyhole and push the button for the bottom floor.

"We'll have to return the key to the receptionist downstairs and then tell her about the decorations we want to have for the apartment." Kappei explained as he waited for Ranna to start the elevator so that they could go down stairs.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Ranna certainly was not in a hurry, though she could only delay things a slight amount.  Mostly walking slow, taking the time she could get away with.  It turned out having the key at the moment was not as important or something to worry about as she thought.  “Have fun with that.”  She said, giving him the key.  The strange look that woman gave her, still on her mind.  All of this was Kappei’s idea, so he could deal with it, as far as she was concerned.  She would just linger around and wait for it to be over.

[Nan-Yo]

Kappei jokingly raised an eyebrow as Ranna handed him the key again. Her worries as always had been unfounded, and once again she had to 'eat crow'. Sweeping in and suddenly becoming such an important aspect of her life, it wasn't surprising that so much of her mistrust an irritation would be directed his way though. But in the end it wasn't as if he had forced her too do anything. They still hadn't even gotten engaged yet; that would happen tomorrow. But just like now, if she ever wanted too, she could stop what was happening. She could stop everything. But she hadn't. Most likely, this was because despite it all, she really did agree with him that his plan was still the best way to keep her safe from other people.

Inserting the key, Kappei pressed the button and down the elevator went. The ride down was as smooth as the ride up had been, the calm elevator music droning through the speakers as the lift made it to its destination. With another Ping, the doors slid open and this time Kappei grabbed Ranna's hand again as he lead them up to the reception desk. The same woman that they had seen earlier greeted them with a carnivorous grin.

"Found everything to your liking?" She asked. Kappei had half expected her to make some sort of lewd remark about him and Ranna, but her not saying anything of the sort somehow made it feel even more like she was suggesting something had happened.

"No complaints." Kappei replied, not aware that Ranna had not loved the height and the view as much as he had. It wasn't that he hadn't been paying attention to her body language, it was just that he had interpreted it as her just being her usual somewhat grumpy self.

"Here are the books... now as for what decorations and wall papers we'd like, we'll go with these." He told her paging through the books and showing the woman what he and Ranna had agreed on. "...and for that last room... make it look like the school council chambers."

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

None of the options were good, as far as Ranna was concerned.  She still did not know if she would say this was the best, but it certainly did not appeal to her at all.  She could not help but be on guard about everything.  The only things Kappei had in his favor right now was he had not been pushy about trying to do things, and being Reiko's friend was a complicated thing, that was good in some ways but made her suspicious in others.  She might jump to conclusions at times and was sometimes overly defensive, but she had good reason to be, as far as she was concerned.  It would have been worse not to be as she saw it.  Of course now she was just more uncomfortable, being around that woman again.  A strange woman, she did not know if she would say 'dangerous', but she had a feeling she wanted to be around the woman as little as she could.

[Nan-Yo]

Having finished his business with the receptionist, Kappei grabbed Ranna's hand again and lead her through the rotating doors and out of the building. They had only been in the place around an hour, so the sun was still high in the sky, burning brightly and making the tall tress cast shadows against the imposing walls of the large building. This was where they were going to live starting from tomorrow evening, so he hoped he would start getting used to that woman at the front desk.

"Want to go grab something to eat before we decide on the rings?" Kappei asked Ranna, figuring she would be eager to stall things even for a bit. He still had to pack his stuff and move it tomorrow and call Reiko for help moving Ranna's stuff. He really didn't want her to get upset about him touching her underwear, so he'd have her sister pack those instead.

"I figured we could take a cup of coffee and talk about things." He explained as he started leading her down the path into the forest. There was of course a lot of things that they still had to talk about. In order not to overwhelm her, Kappei had deliberately only brought up things as they went along. She should already have a rough guess of how they would be able to pull off the fake marriage because he had already told her about the outlines, but the details still had to be ironed out between them.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

“I want to drink.”  Ranna replied.  Not entirely seriously, but after her taste of alcohol, she could understand why some people drank to escape their problems.  She had no desire to overdo it, to become a drunk, but if she had been given the opportunity, she would not mind at least drinking away the time between now and the seemingly increasingly unavoidable marriage.  It certainly would make things easier, though she knew that was exactly why she had to be careful about not overdoing it, assuming she even had another chance over the next few years.

She was not sure not sure how much she really wanted this conversation, part of her just wanted to go back to her room, enjoy it for the last night she could but trying to get out of the talk was probably more trouble than it was worth, so she did not answer further, except by not complaining or trying to get away.

[Nan-Yo]

Kappei didn't know that Ranna was talking about alcohol, so he didn't advice against it. Instead he just nodded, glad that he would have a chance to get her to calm down a bit. Choosing rings would be important, maybe more so than Ranna was aware of. Just like with her bracelet, you equipped your wedding rings with protective spells.

The walk back to the Recreation Zone was made in silence, with only the sound of a few birds hiding in the trees and the buzzing of insects. Kappei enjoyed it, but it really did take to long walking back and forth like this. Getting their hands of some means of transportation would be important here.

After close to half an hour of slowly strolling down the road, the forest opened up again and they arrived at the Recreation Zone and the trolley station. Walking past that station, Kappei led Ranna towards the coffee shop where they had met Reiko the previous day, and walked inside.

"Two coffee" Kappei told the person at the register. He glanced at Ranna. "Is there anything else you want? Something to eat?"

 

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

It was a rather long walk, though not one that was too much trouble for Ranna.  She suspected Kappei did not get it, due to the lack of response, but she did not care enough to elaborate.  She was not going to get any either way.  She still felt a little weird with all the hand holding, but did not care enough to stop it.  She just silently went along with walk.

When they got to their stop, she was tempted to clarify what she wanted earlier, but kept quiet.  “Whatever, just pick something.”  She did not care enough to try to decide whether or not she wanted something to eat, or what it might be.

[Nan-Yo]

Kappei was actually starving. Aside from a small breakfast, he hadn't eaten anything all day. He didn't know about Ranna since she had such a small body when she was a girl, but he got pretty hungry around lunchtime every day. He gave Ranna a nod and then looked at the saleslady again.

"And make that two... no, four grilled cheese and ham sandwiches." considering her age, maybe he shouldn't have ordered her a coffee? Did she even drink coffee? He had never asked. "Ah... and put a lot of milk and sugar in one the cups. The other one just regular coffee. You know? No alcohol in any of them".

Standing right beside him, Ranna could clearly hear Kappei making their orders, and it was only now that she found out that she could have actually ended up getting drunk at this place even by accident. Luckily Kappei had foreseen something like that possibly happening, so he had given specific instructions that would make sure it didn't come to pass.

Having made their orders, Kappei led Ranna towards one of the small round tables next to a window. With so many people milling around on campus it could be difficult to actually find a vacant table in this coffee shop, but Kappei had been lucky again. Pulling out a chair for Ranna he allowed her to sit down first before taking his own seat opposite her.

 

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Ranna did not say anything about the missed opportunity.  Though she could not say for sure that she would not do it again if the opportunity presented itself.  There was likely to be some temptation, at least until the marriage.  For now though she just took her seat, let out a soft sigh over the unease to come.  She had not ever drank coffee before, she found it a little amusing she got drunk before doing so, but she was not bothered by anything he picked, she would just accept it, eat, get this over with.  She just saw this as a convenient way to avoid finding something to eat later.  She was not inclined to take her time here and would probably eat pretty fast, she just hoped Kappei did not plan an especially long talk.

Edited July 5, 2023 by SataiRolePlayingGuy

[Nan-Yo]

"Anyway, I think the place is better than the dorms." Kappei said as he sat down. That was of course an understatement. Even his own place in the male dorm was a far cry from what these apartments could be, and he had been lucky enough to become a dorm manager. Everyone else at dorms just shared a single room and toilet, they didn't even have their own showers. That was of course another thing. Even though she had only been here for a bit, she had still been forced to share the floor showers with the other girls there. Because of this, people that were still under their protection period were only allowed to shower during certain hours of the day.

Around one minute later, the barista came out with their coffees and served it to them, bending in close as she did so. She had some seriously big boobs, not that Kappei was looking or anything. Leaning in close as she handed Ranna her cup, she whispered into her ear. "Save this for later."

Pressing three or four wrapped candies into Ranna's hand she winked at her and walked away. The barista working there was a girl around Reiko's age and would graduate the same year as her. She didn't know nor did she care about how old Ranna was. But she had always been a bit of a rebel and didn't like it when people decided what she could and couldn't do. So when Kappei had just decided on no alcohol for either of them and then ordered such a childish coffee for the girl he was with, she had been irritated. So she had decided to help the girl out a bit and had handed her some of alcoholic candy she had bought herself. The things were sweetly sour, and while not actually alcoholic had a similar effect. Affecting your mana just a single candy could give you a slight buzz if you slowly just sucked on it. If you chewed it and swallowed it, then you could become very drunk, very fast.

 

 

OOC: Ranna shouldn't know what these candies are. You can use them for whatever you want in the story, even save them for later. But if you do choose to have Ranna try one out during the day she is on now... I suggest she does so after they have shopped for the wedding rings since that scene will be pretty important.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

There were still some good people in the world.  It was unfortunate Ranna could properly show the older girl her gratitude.  She would have found marrying her much more appealing.  Part of her did want did want to use one right away, but she had no idea when she would get more.  So she would save it for a better time, something she wanted to mentally escape from more than this.

”If you say so.”  She was not as convinced about the difference.  Though part of was there was extra appeal for someone like her to live in the girl’s dorm, even if she did not feel completely natural there, it was still more appealing than having to live with a ‘husband’, even if the room had some more advantages.  “You might also feel differently if you were in the girls’ dorm.”  She pocketed her secret prize and waited, hoping the food came soon, so she could distract herself with eating.  She was a little annoyed, that she was going to miss the chance to spend much time there, when she was starting to get closer to others there.

Edited July 7, 2023 by SataiRolePlayingGuy

[Nan-Yo]

"Maybe I would have..." Kappei told Ranna as he watched her try her coffee. Would he have felt differently if he had lived in a girls' dorm? Kappei doubted that. Having your own private shower and bedroom as well as your own kitchen. All these things all made the Residential Zone the better option. Maybe the option of being surrounded by girls would have appealed to him more back when he was Ranna's age, but having attended school here at the academy for a couple of years already, other things felt more important to him. When you saw people having sex all around you, after awhile he tried to find places at campus where he could avoid that.

"How's your coffee?" He asked, curious if the young girl like the taste or not. Considering all the sugar and milk that had been poured into her cup, it probably would be to her liking right?

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Ranna’s opinions were partially due to just not wanting to deal with all this marriage stuff of course.  Under any other circumstance, she might have seen the situation differently.  Even living with Reiko again in a room like that could have been more appealing.  Though she would have preferred more time, to really compare the two situations, especially if her recent popularity was not more than a temporary fluke.

She was not really sure what to say about the coffee.  It was not especially bad or anything like that, but she was not sure she would go out of her way to drink it either.  “It’s fine.  If you want me to be happier there, you can just leave me alone in there most of time.  Spend some time with the weird woman at the desk.”  She did not care about hiding her opinion of that one.  That was another issue, the less she saw of that woman, the happier she would be.

[Nan-Yo]

"She's weird right!" Kappei said, maybe a little to loudly for his own taste. Finding out that Ranna had gotten the same vibe as him from the receptionist, had surprised Kappei more than he would have thought. It wasn't that she had actually acted in a strange manner or anything, but it was more the atmosphere? Something he couldn't really put his words on, as if she wasn't meant to be there or something. He coughed into his hand to clear his throat.

"That is... what I wanted to talk about... no, first of all I would like to apolo--" He didn't get any further in his speech as the barista appeared again and put the plate of warm sandwiches on their table. Giving them both a friendly smile, she nodded to them and left again. Kappei cleared his throat again.

"Like I was saying... first I would I want to apologize. You were right... what happened the trolley yesterday morning was completely my fault." He was of course talking about the incident where he had forgotten to zip his pants. Even if Ranna's reaction had been wrong in that situation, it would never have happened if he had just put his clothes on properly. Maybe it wouldn't have happened if Reiko hadn't showed up earlier than he had expected, but he couldn't blame her for his own shortcomings.

Edited July 9, 2023 by Nan-Yo

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Ranna had started eating as Kappei agreed with her opinion about the strange woman.  She was not surprised he agreed.  She would have thought anyone would react to her like that.  She still kind of meant it, would approve of Kappei spending time with that woman.

When he apologized for that earlier stuff, she supposed it was nice enough but she was fine to drop and forget it all at this point, as long as Kappei did not bring it up again.  “Maybe she just likes you, the way she stares.”  She focused on the woman at first before returning to the other subject.  “…It’s fine.”  She would just leave it at that, there was no point in dwelling on it.  She was not going to hold a grudge over it at this point.  She was fine moving to another subject, probably.

[Nan-Yo]

"No, it's not fine... I messed up. I'm not any help if I create situations like that." Kappei admitted as he took a bite out of one of the sandwiches himself. It was delicious. The way the melted cheese and fat of the ham was an explosion of taste in his mouth. Ranna was obviously being a brat again and trying to tease him about the receptionist, but he would ignore it this time. There were other more important things they had to talk about. 

"That situation was really dangerous and I know you couldn't help how you reacted... but that is why we need to talk about it." He sighed, putting the sandwich down on the plate again. No matter how he put it, he there Ranna probably wouldn't like hearing this. But she had to hear this. "When we are in public you can't act like you don't want to be around me. Especially before we get married."

Edited July 9, 2023 by Nan-Yo

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Ranna was trying to be reasonable here, but he was making it very difficult.  She was willing to let it go, try to be in a good mood, deal with the situation she was in.  But it was too hard not to say anything about it with that.  “Maybe you still don’t get it, even after Reiko backed up what I told you.  I look like a girl, but I’m not one, and before or after this whole damn curse, I was never interested in men.  You might really think this is a good idea, and I don’t know about what the best is, but none of my options here are very appealing.  You can’t just expect me to act all happy about the idea of marrying any boy.  Sure, it’s great you haven’t been trying to push me into sex like others.  But I can’t just pretend to be a happy little bride like that.”  There was a lot of irritation in her voice.  She was not trying to say anything Kappei might be offended by, but to make it clear again how she felt about this idea, that even it was all fake, it was hard for her to go along with it and some aspects were going to be an issue, especially in the short term.

[Nan-Yo]

"Ranna, you need to just stop." He knew that Ranna was smart, so he doubted she didn't understand why he was asking her to act as if she wanted to be around him. He had already explained the plan to her. It didn't really matter whether she liked it or not, in the end it came down to her own safety here.

"I know you don't like the idea, but I know you also understand why I am asking you to do this right?" It was very simple actually. Her only real option to stay safe was to make sure that other people didn't try to engage sexually with her. Considering how cute she was, once her protection period was over she would get swamped by people trying to have their way with her. You were expected to have sex with anyone and everyone at the academy that wanted to sleep with you. There was no rule that dictated this, but it had become something of the culture here. Coupled with the duel system, if you refused they could even challenge you to a fight. Winner gets to decide whether there would be sex or not. But few people would bother you if you were already busy with another person. It simply was too much of a hassle.

"If you give other people the impression that you don't want to be around me, they are going to consider you fair game." And the result would be obvious. Ranna only had only learned the basic fighting skills growing up, so she wouldn't be able to stop anyone from having their way with her. If she was lucky she would just be raped.